Ford claims its latest derivative to be the toughest yet
When you buy a Ranger, you want to be sure you bought what the brand, the product, and the marketing people promised.
When Ford sells you its Ranger, it needs to be sure that the Ranger will deliver what it promised.
The only manner to ensure that these expectations are meet, is through thorough testing during the development of the bakkie.
Ford claims its latest derivative to be the toughest yet.
“Earning a Built Ford Tough status is not something we take lightly,” said John Willems, Ford Ranger chief programme engineer.
“Every part of the next-generation Ranger was tested to the same standards that we demand of every Ford vehicle.”
“It’s important that our customers are able to rely on Ranger to deliver years of dependable service,” said Willems.
“So, we’ve gone to great lengths to subject next-gen Ranger to extreme tests, stressing it much more than a typical consumer would, to help ensure it is ready to face everything life throws at it.
Testing this latest Ranger has taken it to more than 10 000km of desert driving, the equivalent of 1 250 000km of customer driving, and the equivalent of 625 000km of rugged off-road durability testing at maximum load capacity, and testing is continuing around the world and thousands of hours of computer simulations.
The Ranger is distributed to 180 different markets across the world. Thus the demand for testing under all and the most severe conditions.
“Our job as engineers is to translate the customer experience insights into a clear product definition brief for the engineering group, which becomes the absolute reference for engineers. This is particularly important for the Ranger, given we are developing it to be sold across the globe,” Willems concluded.
To view the latest video of the next-gen Ranger being put through its paces, click on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaIL8KcdjxM
Source: QuickPic
